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Günter Verheugen, European Commissioner for Enlargement from 1999 to 2004 and European Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry from 2004 to 2010, is currently a member of the International Advisory Board at FleishmanHillard.

Ukraine is a country that also had its golden age more than 500 years ago. At the time of the fall of the Soviet Union Ukraine's per capita GDP was close to that of Poland. Some economists projected that Ukraine would emerge as the wealthiest among economies dominated by the former Soviet Union - the largest expanse of quality farmland in Europe, abundant natural resources. very highly developed industrial and technology base, three major ports on the Black Sea, and much more. The past two decades have resulted in a remarkable decline in Ukraine's fortunes as former Communist functionaries turned oligarchs robbed the nation treating it like a short term colonial possession to exploit rather than a country to build. Perhaps Poland with support from the EU can launch a Prosperity Corps to help build more small business and civic society institutions in Ukraine so that Ukraine can achieve the potential of its people as well as Poland has.

Günter Verheugen is full of praise for Poland since its "25 years of democracy, 15 years of NATO membership, and ten years of European Union membership." Indeed Germans and Poles have had a difficult relationship throughout history. Tensions between Berlin and Warsaw were on public display when a glossy magazine in Poland showed a beaming Merkel as "Europe's stepmother" baring her breasts to feed the infant twins, Prime minister, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, and the president, Lech Kaczynski. The twin brothers had always felt demeaned by her not treating Poland as an "equal" partner.
Since Donald Tusk became prime minister in 2011, he had developed a warm relationship with Angela Merkel. She has won hearts and minds in Poland, when it became known last year that her grandfather Ludwig Kazmierczak came from Poznan, Poland. Her original maiden name would have been Kazmierczak and not Kasner.
The relationship between the two neighbours has become an inevitable consequence, since Poland joined the EU's borderless Schengen zone in 2007. Although older Germans still see Poland as a country behind the "Iron Curtain", more and more young people look to their eastern neighobur for business opportunites. Poland has become a favourite destination for a new wave of German entrepreneurs. Older Poles still have a hard time to accept the growing influx of Germans. Yet the young generation is willing to forgive and forget, as German investments create jobs.
This has triggered resentment from people in the eastern part of Germany, which was the former German Democratic Republic. Much of the region is still struggling to attract new investment, to replace the state-owned industry, which collapsed in the wake of German reunification.The locals feel neglected as businesses are leaving. Unemployment is already high.
Verheugen says: "The Polish people deserve a bright future". Of course they do and they are working hard on it. The Poles are proud of their cultural heritage and can trace their history back over 1,000 years. They have known turbulent and violent times, with periods of independence as well as periods of domination by other countries.
A new era began 25 years ago after the fall collapse of the Soviet Union. It has thrived since its EU membership in 2004, five years after joining Nato. It has "the potential to become a European leader again," serving a model for Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova. Whether Poland's success can be replicated in these countries is another question.

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